Garden Party

NEW YORK -- As the final minutes ticked away, both Chris Webber and Juwan Howard sat at the end of the bench wearing blank expressions. Rod Strickland was seated also, his blank stare aimed at the Madison Square Garden ceiling.Their expressions told the entire story. For the 13th time since 1991, the Washington Bullets set foot in Madison Square Garden, seeking a win against the New York Knicks. And for the 13th time the Bullets left the arena losers, this time a 85-73 defeat.For the Bullets (7-11)

With the millennium will come a greater spirituality in home design, according to a trend analyst at the recent New York Home Textiles Show.Elissa Moses, managing director of a trends think tank, the BrainWaves Group, predicts that feng shui will go mainstream, with consultants at Bloomingdale's to help us select our wind chimes and fish tanks. (Feng shui is the ancient Chinese art of design to achieve harmony and happiness.) Color analysis will expand from makeup and wardrobe to our homes for mood control.

THE SPRING Garden Party, which combines kid-sized carnival games, an auction and plenty of favorite children's food, is adding crafts this year.Repeating a favorite from last year, tiny bears, cylinders and miniature jars will stand ready for colored sand art. Children also will be able to decorate a face mask, move on to the necklace table to string beads or have their faces painted.Another addition to the March 9 party at Spring Garden Elementary will be colored (but washable) hair spray.

The TV Repairman:We interrupt this column to inform you that the Orioles are playing on your radio (WBAL) and your television (if you subscribe to Home Team Sports) today (1 p.m.) and you are excused. But hurry back.* Roy Firestone got the right guy in Bob Cousy to explain the wonder and majesty of the Boston Garden in his ESPN "Upclose" tribute to the soon-to-be-razed old gal atop Boston's North Station.They called the legendary parquet playing surface "Cousy's floor," because of the stupefying things he did on it, but he debunked the legend by pointing out, "It probably wasn't a good floor at all because of the dead spots and screws always coming loose.

Spring Garden Elementary salutes spring with its annual Spring Garden Party from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 11 at the school, 700 Boxwood Drive, Hampstead.The family event features games and activities for preschoolers to fifth grade. Children must be accompanied by an adult.For families in the Spring Garden school district, it's a chance to see teachers, staff, students and parents.In addition to last year's carnival-style children's games, in which everyone received a prize, new activities will include a beanbag toss created by Boy Scouts, a basketball toss, a prize wheel and a candy wheel.

If the weather has you down, just remember that spring is around the corner. Sure signs are the announcements of flower shows, garden parties and garden tours to come.Let's begin with the World's Largest Garden Party, which will take place throughout spring in the Delaware Valley (eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware), home of more public gardens than anywhere in North America and rivaled only by London as the world's premier garden showcase. The garden party encompasses 28 institutions, including Longwood Gardens.

Living next door to the Schwarzeneggers has its good and bad moments. Yesterday afternoon he cut his lawn with a flamethrower he improvised with the fuel-oil truck. He's clever. We dare not ask what happened to the lawn mower. But he's much too permissive about letting the kids borrow that new Harrier jet to go off with their friends. He's violent, but lovable. You could have worse neighbors.We enjoyed the annual pool party, swimming around under a skim of burning oil. The motorcycle jumps off the roof were the best part.

NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers could look up into the stands at Madison Square Garden last night and read the sign:"The Cup is in the House."All the Rangers had to do to possess it for the first time since 1940 was win Game 5 and wrap up the Stanley Cup finals against the Vancouver Canucks.But today the Cup is on its way to Vancouver, where Game 6 will be played tomorrow night, after the Canucks, leading 1-0, scored five third-period goals and whipped the Rangers, 6-3."The party is delayed," the Canucks' Murray Craven said.

The Gardens Collaborative, a consortium of 28 gardens, historic houses and arboretums in the Delaware Valley, presents the "World's Largest Garden Party," featuring more than 100 events this spring -- everything from fairs and festivals to scavenger hunts, races, tours and concerts.One is the Storybook Garden Party today at the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington. In the E.I. du Pont French Garden, families can enjoy puppet shows, 19th-century games, theatrical productions, music, a mini-flower show and nature walks from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.In one corner of the garden, costumed storybook characters read children's stories, and Mother Goose and other strolling characters make balloon animals.

Children are the basic ingredient at Spring Garden Elementary for the annual Garden Party Games, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 26.Crafts and food to please children of all ages will fill the school cafeteria. Visitors can bounce a rubber chicken into a pot, win a fancy cake or bid for a pizza dinner with a favorite teacher.The garden party will be in the school cafeteria at 900 Boxwood Drive, Hampstead. The event is fun and it benefits the school's students as one of two annual PTA fund-raisers.